This proposal is an iteration and development from an early work with Naughtycons in 2012 at Phoenix Gallery, Brighton. As seen in the image on the right.

The term “Naughtycon” is a play on “Emoticon” with a hint at the shape and perhaps being slighty un-orthodox.

Where as the 2012 project was more static, Naughtycon Skateboarding offers a rather more physical, dynamic and interactive iteration.

Naughtycon Skateboarding will use skateboard and suitcases to make the Naughticons physical, yet manipulable by the public.

The idea is to be un-orthodox and use the exhibiting period as an ongoing process that evolvs the exhibited objects via engagement with artists, public, and Kunsthalle Bratislava workers. This process will enable Kunsthalle Bratislava, by the end of the exhibition period, to assess and decide which interested entities might have the Naughtycons for a rather more permanent keep and exhibition.

During the time at Kunsthalle Bratislava, members of the public, artists, curators, Kunsthalle workers etc., will be encouraged to negotiate with one another in the arrangement and make up of the Naughtycons. Through these activities, Kunsthalle Bratislava staff will be able to decide, by the end of the month, who to give Naughtycons to, how and under which conditions – if any.

In a sense, the month long “exhibition” period will become a sort of month long mass residency that will help gallery workers determine:

* Who to give Naughtycon skateboards to. Each could go to a different person/entity.

* How to give the Naughtycon skateboard and in which ways to play, question, or otherwise use the link between them, the gallery and Naughtycon skateboard hosts.

To assist the process of determining how to disperse with the Naughtycon Skateboards, people will be encouraged to come into the gallery space, negotiate with one another and Kunsthalle Bratislava workers regarding the arrangement of each Naughtycon skateboard.

The negotiative process will form one of several ways in which the performativity of the objects in the gallery space-time as well as public’s connection to the objects and the processes they go through – will be questioned.

The negotiations will be documented and archived progressively in a digital form, embedded in each skateboard. This will allow people to experience the Naughtycon Skateboards over time in a rather more passive way, as well as having the opportunity to manipulate them physically. Since the physicality of experiencing the digital documentation will be possible both from within the gallery space and from outside – the boundaries of both space and time will be questioned simultaneously.

Using these kind of methods, Naughtocon skateboards will allow people involved to skate/transgress and crucially, question, how they imagine the links between the elements involved.

Naughtycon Skateboarding – the idea in practice

All along the gallery windows, facing the outside, there will be Skateboards – as in the image – each, hung inside a cutout suitcase.

The skateboards inside the suitcases will be easily replaced, and moved between 3 positions, as illustrated in the images on the right.

The top image shows the left eye with a mouth in the naughtycon next to it.

The bottom image illustrates a different situation where the skateboard that was the left eye, was moved/skated to the right and became the right eye.

The Naughtycon next to it has lost its orange skaeboard mouth that was replaced with a blue left eye.

Each such evolving iterations of the Naughtycons will come through a process of negotiation between members of the public with Kunsthalle Bratislava staff, or indeed, among staff.

The negotiative process and its outcome will be documented via images and sound recordings and archived, in a sense, “inside” each and every skateboard.

To access these Naughtycon Skateboarding archives, each board will have its own QR code.

These will face the outside to create another layer of possible boundary questioning. Hence to access the inside of the Naughtycons evolution, one has to be outside.

However, to affect the physicality of Naughtycon skateboard evolution, one has to go inside the gallery space and negotiate with others.

Once a person becomes involved negotiatively with others doing Naughtycon Skateboarding, they could be nominated by the people involved to receive a Naughtycon skateboard for long-term keeping. This makes each person involved a potential collector/keeper of the objects. However, because to keep the objects there will not be a process of numerical/financial negotiative exchange but that of conceptual/sensual and practical exchange instead, people involved will be able to produce on going negotiations, connections, links and ideas, with who ever gets to keep a Naughtycon skateboard.

To encourage the development of such on going negotiative processes, there will be a forum website where people could continue discussing the lives and evolutions of Naughtycon skateboards via texts, images, video clips and sounds.

A closeup of a Naughtycon skateboard from the outside:

A closeup of a Naughtycon skateboard from the inside:

Naughtycon Skateboarding – further details

An illustration of a general look from inside the gallery space:

An illustration of a general look from inside the gallery space with notes: